Puppet Animation is often associated with late Eastern European animators
such as Jiri Trnka, one of the greatest puppet animators ever, or
surrealist directors like Jan Svankmajer. Puppet animation is mainly
honored at local events -- the "Deep End Puppet Theatre Happening," which
involves live puppet theatre performances and puppet film screenings
throughout the region of Northern England -- academic conferences -- a
Society for Animation Study Conference's paper on "Puppet Animation Film in
Germany From 1915-1945" for instance -- or specialized festivals like the
International Festival of Puppet Theater. For its last edition, the
International Festival of Puppet Theater featured performances by William
Kentridge's Puppet Company. Concurrently, the Guggenheim museum hosted a
series of puppet films including work by The Brothers Quay, Jan Svankmajer,
and Ladislas Starewitch. Today, The Brothers Quay, the independent
London-based twin brother directing duo is known worldwide for their dark,
bizarre puppet animated films ("Street of Crocodiles," "Epic of
Gilgamesh"). On a more commercial note, Will Vinton Studios' new series in
production for Fox, "The PJs," is a groundbreaking stop-motion puppet
animated series. These few examples reinforce the idea that the future of
animation doesn't depend strictly on the evolution of technology, but
follows the creativity of artists and their favorite means of expression.
Prestigious puppet animators, like The Brothers Quay, Jan Svankmajer, and Ladislas Starewitch, are featured on AWN in the
Animation of Heaven and Hell in 3-D's site . See their work today.
Svankmajer was portrayed in the June 1997 issue of Animation World Magazine upon the release of his new film and receipt of a lifetime achievement award: Read
"The Surrealist Conspirator: An Interview With Jan Svankmajer" by Wendy Jackson.
Jan Svankmajer's "Alice" and Jiri Trnka's Film Collection are available for sale in the
AWN Store .
The October '98 issue of Animation World Magazine includes an article about William Kentridge,
"William Kentridge: Quite The Opposite Of Cartoons," where his amazing animation films are discussed in depth by Philippe Moins. Includes a Quicktime movie.
Our February 1999 issue focused on Stop-Motion Animation. In
"A PJs Chat with Mark Gustafson," Amid Amidi spoke with Mark Gustafson of Will Vinton Studios to glean the behind-the-scenes production process of The PJs.
In
"Puppetology: Science or Cult?" Brad DeGraf and Emre Yilmaz demystify performance animation and explain why the "Devil's rotoscope" might not be so bad after all.... Includes Quicktime movie clips.
To find more about
"Deep End Puppet Theatre Happening" and other Animha projects, visit their web site.
